Mercedes-Benz Racks Up 90,000 Orders For New A Class: Report

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. That’s exactly what Mercedes-Benz did with several successions of its entry-level A Class, which has transformed from a tallish MPV in its first generation to a sleek sports hatch in its current form, and is finally winning the hearts of small car buyers around the globe.

Previously, the A Class was primarily bought by older generations, but with the sporty and dynamic styling of the latest model, Mercedes has seen plenty of younger buyers stream into showrooms eager for a test drive.

The car has proven such a success that Mercedes has already racked up 90,000 orders, Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche revealed to German publication Die Zeit. This, according to Reuters, is more than double the number of orders for the MkVII Volkswagen Golf, which went on sale around the same time and is vying for the same customers as the A Class.

In fact, even before the new A Class officially went on sale, surging pre-orders for the car following its world debut at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show meant Mercedes was already at full production capacity and needed to outsource further production to independent vehicle manufacturer Valmet of Finland.

Sadly, Mercedes has no plans to introduce its A Class, nor its high-performance A45 AMG variant, to the U.S. anytime soon. Instead, we’ll get a new CLA Class four-door coupe and GLA Class crossover. There’s also the possibility that an electric B Class MPV will be introduced to meet certain regulatory requirements.

With just the new A Class and B Class models, Mercedes is already on track to see its sales increase 5 percent this year over last year’s record of 1.28 million units. At this rate, the company is confident it will be able to double its sales to around 2.6 million units annually by 2020 and overtake Audi and BMW to become the world’s largest luxury automaker once more.